(obsolete) One whose occupation involved overseeing the sowing and harvesting of crops as well as protecting the crops from stray people or animals.
1877, William Oldnall Russell, Charles Sprengel Greaves, & George Sharswood, A Treatise on Crimes and Misdemeanors, p571... it was held that this was not indictable, for till the horse got to the pound the hayward was merely acting as the servant of the owner of the land ...
1881, The Antiquary, vol III, p255The hayward at the same place had an acre of the lord's corn in autumn, always in a certain part of the field.
1890, Jean Jules Jusserand, English Wayfaring Life in the Middle Ages, p24A horn, such as our man wears, was always worn by a hayward, who used to blow it to warn off people from straying in the crops.
